Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on June 26 put forward a five-point suggestion to further Asia-Europe financial cooperation at the opening ceremony of the Sixth ASEM Finance Ministers' Meeting (FMM).

Wen firstly suggested Asian and European nations strengthen dialogue and coordination on macro-economic policies, saying it is of great importance for Asian and European countries to regularly exchange economic and policy information through increased dialogue, communication and equal-footed consultation to jointly deal with risks and challenges facing the world economy.

"To promote sustainable and steady development of the world economy, we need to pool our efforts and adopt responsible macro- economic policies to maintain the stability of the major reserve currencies, curb big fluctuations in oil prices and prevent the rise of trade protectionism in all forms," he said.

"The Chinese government proposes to establish an ASEM Contingency Dialogue Mechanism for Emergent Economic and Financial Events within the framework of the ASEM FMM for the purpose of safeguarding economic and financial security," he said.

Secondly, Wen urged countries of the two continents to increase exchanges on development experience.

"We should have in-depth discussions on development paths and strategies and increase exchanges to share experience in regional integration and success stories in macro-economic regulations and restructuring under open conditions," the premier said.

Later this year, China and United Kingdom will co-sponsor a Fiscal Policy and Public Debts Forum within the framework of the ASEM FMM.

"All the finance ministers of Asian and European countries and members of their financial communities are most welcome to take part in this Forum," Wen said.

Thirdly, Wen said he hoped Asian and European nations would deepen substantive cooperation in fiscal and financial sector.

Asian and European countries should actively explore and advance fiscal and financial cooperation between the two continents to develop the Asian regional bond market and support the role of the euro in maintaining international financial stability and promoting development, so as to enhance the international standing of Asia and Europe in the monetary and financial field.

"We should also give full scope to the positive role of the ASEM Trust Fund in assisting the underdeveloped members of ASEM in their financial reforms," he said.

Fourthly, the Chinese premier suggests Asia and Europe strengthen technical assistance and financial capacity building.

He said, "Given the uneven development between Asian and European countries, we should render greater support to the poor countries in the region through vigorous technical assistance so as to promote the realization of UN Millennium Development Goals."

Lastly, Wen suggests Asian and European nations foster an environment for win-win international economic cooperation.

"We should, through our coordination and cooperation, promote the international community to pay more attention to the interests of the vast number of developing countries by way of substantially writing off their debts, increasing development aid and speeding up technology transfer."

"We should also facilitate the reform of the international financial and trade systems, promote an early conclusion of the WTO Doha round negotiations and call for innovative thinking in international development so as to establish a sound new international economic order," the premier said.

The Sixth ASEM-FMM, themed to "promote closer Asia-Europe economic and financial cooperation," attracted more than 200 participants from 13 Asian countries, 25 European nations and the European Commission, and representatives from international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Source: Xinhua